Questions
by Ethia
Summary: One shot where Sakura and Naruto win a vacation trip thingy. NaruSaku


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: This story is for ****ssvidel3 ****who brought me up to 100 reviews… ****I'm actually going to wait until the end to reveal the idea so it doesn't ruin the surprise :) **

_xxxxx_

**Questions**

**xxxxx**

"We won!" Sakura exclaimed, pronouncing her happiness over the sudden victory throughout the stadium.

"Sakura… That's a little…" Naruto said, trying to dissuade the girl next to him and get her to simmer down a little.

"Aren't you happy Naruto? We did it!" Sakura said. The smile she gave him made his heart skip a beat. He hadn't seen her look that happy in a long time; it was a smile he had always thought she reserved for Sasuke.

He could have been happier about winning, but he wasn't sure if it really was the best outcome for them, and his sudden thoughts about Sasuke only caused his mood to sour more. Sakura grabbed hold of the sleeve of Naruto's jacked and continued to smile, her new expression saying _'turn that frown upside down mister!'_ He chuckled a second after visualizing her saying that.

Tsunade walked over to them, in the center of the stadium, and presented them with their prize: an all exclusive, two week vacation to a tropical island. _Beach Vacation Paradise at its BEST!_

"Congratulations you two, you deserve it after everything you've been through," Tsunade said, a sincere yet apologetic look on her face.

It had been two years since the United Shinobi War against the Uchiha. At the end of the war, Sasuke did a one-eighty and sided with the Alliance to defeat Madara and Obito Uchiha. Afterwards Naruto and Sakura tried one last time to get him back to the village, but he refused, not wanting anything more that involved the life of a ninja. In an even dire last chance, Sakura begged and pleaded with him to take her. He denied her of course, and Naruto was happy about it, not because it meant Sakura was free to date, but because Sasuke denied her so that she wouldn't have to be cursed to live the same life he was bound to now; a life where he was constantly on the run; being hunted wherever he went.

After that, Sakura became depressed and didn't speak or go out much unless she had a mission. Naruto would come to her house regularly and pull her out of her room, making her live a little. He asked her out a few times, half jokingly, and of course she refused his offer, but then one day a change occurred within her and she said 'yes.' Now here they were a year or so later having just won a couples' competition for a lovers' vacation.

The only problem was that Naruto wasn't sure if Sakura really liked him or not. He always feared in the back of his mind that she dated him out of pity or simply because she settled. That's why he knew he should be feeling happier about winning. And as for a lovers resort... Sure he and Sakura had kissed plenty of times, but because he felt she was dating him out of pity he never bothered trying to do anything more with her.

"Jeeze Naruto!" Sakura said, frustration etched across her face. "We won an amazing trip. It's going to be just the two of us and you aren't happy at all?"

"I'm happy," Naruto said, his hyperactive-ness kicking in as he defended himself. "I'm just… in shock from the victory is all!"

"That better be why you're acting so stiff," Sakura said, emphasizing the word _stiff._ Naruto gulped and mentally calmed himself down; he wasn't sure why but she was always doing that to him nowadays. "I'll see you in the morning then."

They were outside the stadium now, having already accepted their award. The sun was on the verge of setting, casting mysterious shadows along the faces of the Mount Kage. They kissed briefly and then parted ways.

**xxxxx**

In the morning Naruto and Sakura went to Tsunade's office. She rolled out a scroll across the floor for them to step on. As soon as they were positioned upon the scroll she performed a reverse summoning jutsu and they were sent to the island.

It was hot and the air was thick with humidity. Though they stood before a large hotel surrounded by palm trees and foliage, they could hear the ocean's waves beating against the beach in a strange rhythm that enhanced the songs of the tropical birds and the calls of the monkeys that played among the branches.

"This place looks amazing!" Sakura said, exclaiming more joy than when they had won the reward itself. Naruto agreed, still hesitating with the excitement much to Sakura's annoyance.

They entered the hotel and were quickly greeted and then escorted to their room.

"Look at all of this," Sakura said. After the steward left them alone to the room Sakura marched inside and then twirled around the middle of the room with her arms outspread; Naruto couldn't believe that she was so happy. When had she ever been _this_ happy? Was she faking it?

She flopped backwards onto the one large bed in the room while Naruto set down their bags. She sat up and stroked the comforter coyly. "Are you nervous about sleeping with me?"

Naruto dropped the last bag abruptly in shock. "Um…"

She laughed again and headed over to him so that she could dig into her bag. With one last zip of her pink sack she brought up a two-piece swimsuit. "I'm going to change so that we can hit the beach." She took off for the bathroom and in a few minutes she was back in the main room ready for the ocean waves. "What's up Naruto? Get ready!" Naruto hesitated again, but he couldn't help it, Sakura's bathing suit was grabbing her body in the best ways possibly. It was red with white polka dots and the strings were so feeble that the slightest touch could untie them revealing her—

"Right, I'll do that now," he said, excusing himself to change quickly.

He despairingly left her to enter the bathroom, not wanting to lose the amazing visual she was providing. After changing as fast as possible he and Sakura headed for the beach.

The beach was amazing. Smooth sand that glittered with the sun after the waves splashed onto the beach. Naruto decided it would be best to put his worries of her falsification to the side and actually enjoy himself. They ran through the waves, throwing water at each other or splashing each other with each kick through the water that they made while running. The waves chased them and they chased the waves in a game of tag that the ocean never lost.

After an hour they sun bathed and then when Naruto grew bored they made a sand castle; taking time to hunt down seashells to decorate the elaborate structure. Towards the end of the night they collected drift wood and built a bonfire.

"Man I'm hungry," Naruto said, grabbing his stomach after it emitted an embarrassingly audible rumble.

"Oh yeah! Here," Sakura said. They had brought a bag with them from their room and she reached inside until she found what she was looking for; pulling out two cups of instant ramen and a large bottle of water. Naruto's face lit up and he looked around until he found a portable grill. He brought it over and placed it over the fire so that they could let the cups or ramen, which Sakura had just filled with water, slowly heat up.

"How long do you think it will take?" Naruto said.

"Probably a few minutes," Sakura said.

"Oh, okay."

"I'm sure it'll be as delicious as instant ramen can be though."

"Yeah, definitely."

"Will you marry me?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What did you say?"

Sakura wrapped her arms across her legs. "I asked if you would marry me." She wasn't looking at him, staring at the fire instead. "You know, we've been dating over a year now and—"

"Just stop it Sakura," Naruto wasn't looking at her either, staring at the fire too. The flames reminded him of Sasuke and he was sure it was reminding her of him too.

"I figured you wouldn't want to… You always act distant from me and it wasn't until a while ago that I realized you probably kept asking me out, out of pity."

Now he was looking at her, wide eyed even. What was she talking about?

"Hinata is probably more your type anyway," Sakura said.

"Are you crazy?" Naruto said. "Sure she's nice and all but I _like _you Sakura. Screw it, love, I _love_ you Sakura. Haven't you been missing Sasuke all this time? Hasn't your smile been fake?"

"Only because I was trying to get you to like me more because I thought you weren't interested. I may have been exaggerating the happiness but the happiness itself was always genuine," Sakura said.

"And Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Honestly? I did think of him for a while, but the thoughts faded more and more as each day passed. Then I started noticing that my thoughts drifted to you and after I put that together I realized that you were always by my side. That's when I said I'd finally date you." She took a quiet breath as the chill of the night fought against the flame's heat to touch her skin. "I love you Naruto."

He watched the fire flicker between the two of them, casting transparent shadows across her skin; dancing in the dark.

"You think the ramen is done?" Naruto said after several minutes past.

"Yeah," Sakura said. He grabbed the ramen and handed her a cup and some chopsticks before moving to sit next to her; placing his arms around her body and slurping his ramen over her shoulder. She leaned into his body, happy that he wasn't rejecting her. Sakura was right; the ramen was indeed the best he had yet.

Naruto finally felt the joy of the vacation envelop him, now that he knew Sakura did love him like he loved her. He decided it would be best to let her sweat the rest of the evening and fret over what his answer to her question would be. He'd tell her 'yes' once they were ready to go to bed.

**xxxxx**

**Alrighty; the story idea: for this id like something a little different. they've been dating a while and sakura proposes to naruto! you can pick where it happens.  
**

**I know this 1-shot is shorter than the other but I didn't have to create the setting like I did for _Bringing Two Together_ since this starts off with them having dated for a while. I wish I had taken the time to beef it up a little more but honestly I kind of like it this way. Hope you enjoyed it ****ssvidel3**!  



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